Welcome here!
I would love to hear about your birds and dogs. I bet almost all of us would. I bet there's not even 1% of horse people who are not aslo dog people.
Bonnie helped me with something about 5 years ago. It was actually for a dog my parents had lost, but he was my "fur brother". Just a sosoul-mate for our whole family and out of a storybook special. What Bonnie shared with me after he had passed, just before my parents were getting a new puppy, is something I won't ever forget. It just confirmed a spirituality that myself and my parents have felt as long as I can remember. Bonnie doesn't just have a gift, but is one. I cannot explain what she shared with me in anyway that doesn't include that she was in touch with the spirit of "Ollie". And what a gift -- we and our animals do go on after we are right here.
If you do ever have time and would be willing to offer your insight and would spend the time, I would like to bend your ear regarding large birds. Having one in our lives is something my husband and I have read about and really wanted to do for about a decade, but we both have concerns about the temperature we keep our house, and the amount of time we both spend doting our our dogs when we are home. The bird could actually go to the office with me, but it's the things that take up our time when we're at home that worry us. We have nephews and nieces that we think would love an "inheritance" if the bird outlived us, so we are lucky in that way but we don't know who to talk to impartially to give us hands-on advice. If I could turn back time, I do think that we might have picked birds as our "animal kids". We both have read so much and change our minds so often. It's a huge responsiblity to take on something as smart and social as one of these birds.
Anyway, I'm happy you are posting here. I have noticed other posts from you and I think we probably have a lot of common ground when it comes to some of the things that are most important (the "P" word aside).
WELCOME from Virginia!
Jill I would be more than happy to give you some insight into the larger birds. You can email me at 
